The further and continuing adventures of the girl who sat in the back of your homeroom, reading and daydreaming.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Gerstner

I mentioned Gerstner toolboxes awhile back and it was opined by others that they are too pricey and easily-harmed for a modern machine shop. Could be. New, they cost like unobtaniam, hen's-tooth grade.

Used, on auction sites, they're a bit more affordable. Mine even arrived with Machinery's Handbook in the special drawer at the center, for less than the cost of a new all-metal chest of like size:

The Gerstner is the fancy one at upper center, a generic import occupies the lower shelf. The perceptive observer will note my tool selection skews retro, including a set of late-19th century Jennings auger bits in the top section of the lower toolbox (wooden case at the left). They work as good as new!

A lot of the machinists I used to work around had those; I ought to get my dad's old one (he was a master machinist and millwright for quite a few years) sometime from my mom. Somebody should be putting it to use with him gone now.

Interestingly, Phlegmmie, the other thing Gerstner makes is a line of professional makeup cases, used by the motion picture industry! --This general kind of toolbox shows up on eBay and low-end versions are available from outfits like Sportsman's Guide. The Real Thing is pricey and nice; but even the cheap ones are handy for small tools and supplies.

NJT: oh, it gets better; after I bid on them and won, I found out the seller was local to me. When the arrived, they wre stamped with name of the store on the Jennings label: Vonnegut's Hardware! That's the late author's relatives, no less.

Og, HTRN, I had to buy used; the real ones are way too much for my budget. It took a number of tries but this one was just what I was looking for, leatherette exterior and all.

Well, considering that you have what appears to be a model 52 "journeyman" which is just under a grand new, I'm not surprised you bought it used. Heck, even the Kennedy boxes are pricey - I bought mine used.

First the tinkering links, now pictures of $$$ toolboxes, what next? pocketwatches and vintage cameras? :)

Bet'cha didn't know that Vonnegut Hardware had a store in Broad Ripple about, oh... 50 years ago. Was in the building on the north side of the Avenue where Ossip Optometry is now. Yellow-and-tan linoleum tile floor and wooden cabinets with tilt-out bins for the small stuff!-----And my eye was caught by that RF generator (?) on the left.

Back in the day, I had a Gerst that I bought new as an apprentice machinist. IIRC, it cost me 3 weeks' pay, & there was hell at home after the purchase.Well, the wife is divorced, but the Gerst is still with me- smoother running than it was new. The drawers still hold their tools well.

Oh Aged and Grounchy, that's a sig gen of sorts, a 1940s "eco" covering the ham bands (by means of plug-in coils): a Meissner Signal Shifter. Puts out about 4 - 5 Watts, has a 6L6 final amp. Ancestor of the modern QRP rig? --Back in The Day, hams typically used them to drive something with a bit more power. They can be and were used as stand-alone transmitters. A bit drifty.

"I saw to what extent the people among whom I lived could be trusted as good neighbors and friends; that their friendship was for summer weather only; that they did not greatly propose to do right; that they were a distinct race from me by their prejudices and superstitions."